Senator targets surplus sales to Iran

WASHINGTON - A Democratic senator wants to cut off all Pentagon sales of surplus F-14 parts, saying the military's marketing of the spares "defies common sense" in light of their importance to Iran.

Sen. Ron Wyden (news, bio, voting record)'s bill came in response to an investigation by The Associated Press that found weaknesses in surplus-sale security that allowed buyers for countries including Iran and China to surreptitiously obtain sensitive U.S. military equipment including Tomcat parts.

The surplus sales are one of the first national security issues to be addressed by the new Democratic-controlled Congress.

"It just defies common sense to be making this kind of equipment available to the Iranians with all that they have done that is against our interests," Wyden said Monday in an interview, adding that constituents brought up the surplus-sale security problems at his town-hall meetings over the past few days. "I just want to legislate this and cut it off permanently, once and for all."

The Tomcat is the fighter jet made famous in the 1986 Tom Cruise blockbuster movie, "Top Gun." The U.S. military retired its F-14s last fall. That leaves only Iran  which bought the fighter jet in the 1970s when it was a U.S. ally  flying the planes.

U.S. law enforcement officials believe Iran can produce only about 15 percent of the parts it needs for its Tomcats, making the Pentagon's surplus sales a valuable avenue for spares.

The Pentagon already plans to sell about 60 percent of the roughly 76,000 parts for the F-14, viewing them as general nuts-and-bolts-type aircraft hardware that can be sold safely to the public without restrictions.

Some of those spares from the newly retired fleet likely have already been sold, Jack Hooper, a Defense Logistics Agency spokesman, said Monday. The Defense Department plans to destroy about 10,000 other components it considers unique to the F-14.

The agency is reviewing 23,000 other parts it believes it can sell under existing law. But it said it will consider their potential value to Iran.

Those parts, of both military and commercial value, are of particular concern to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office. The GAO has conducted its own inquiry into surplus security and found loopholes. It wants assurances the parts won't be sold.

Wyden said his bill would cut off the sale of all surplus F-14 parts. The legislation includes all parts to cut off all opportunities for Iranian "fishing expeditions," spokeswoman Jennifer Hoelzer said, adding that GAO investigations have found valuable surplus accidentally getting included in boxes of what are supposed to be nuts-and-bolts-type hardware.

Wyden is confident he can get the bill through the Senate in the next few months. Wyden, a senior member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, also pledged greater Senate oversight of the surplus program.

Hooper declined to comment on the legislation.

"We're certainly not going to attempt to interfere whatsoever in the legislative process," Hooper said. The Defense Department maintains it has followed all procedures in selling its surplus.

The AP reported the Pentagon's F-14 part sales plans earlier this month. Its investigation found that in several cases, buyers for countries that included Iran and China took advantage of security flaws to buy sensitive surplus, including aircraft parts and missile components.

I guess its bad to sell surplus F-14 tomcat surplus parts to Iran. But selling the parts to a DECOMMISIONED PLANE and making some money back it doesnt seem to be that big a deal. If anything Aquavelajad's opponents should be critizing HIM for "funding the enemy's cause". LOL

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon said Tuesday it had halted sales of spare parts from its recently retired F-14 fighter jet fleet, even as lawmakers pledged tougher oversight of the military's surplus sales.

The review will examine Pentagon policy for handling the spare parts and determine what should be done with them "in light of the current situation with Iran," Hooper said.

Iran, currently at odds with the United States and other countries over its suspected nuclear weapons program, among other issues, is still flying the F-14 Tomcat.

The decision drew immediate praise from Congress.

"This is an appropriate and necessary short-term step to solving this problem," said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Connecticut, a longtime critic of security gaps in Pentagon surplus sales.

The Defense Department, Shays said, "needs a comprehensive review of its entire surplus sales operation to ensure that we aren't arming our own adversaries, selling them equipment we still need at bargain prices."

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hmm, seems the pentagon is suddenly concerned about keeping up appearances.

How does this even work? If the US and Iran are the only two countries who operate the F-14 why would this be an issue at all. Shouldn't all spare parts for the F-14 remain in the US under the US Navy's purview? If, for nothing else, to protect the secrets of both the Phoenix missile and the radar system aboard the latest F-14?
And people wonder why the Pentagon has little credibility in my eyes? They can't even keep track of the spare parts for one airframe, how can they be trusted with anything else? Walmart has a better idea of where their stuff is. I could understand if it was F-4 parts or even M-1 parts, but this shouldn't require a Congressional review. This should have been obvious in 1979.

I guess its bad to sell surplus F-14 tomcat surplus parts to Iran. But selling the parts to a DECOMMISIONED PLANE and making some money back it doesnt seem to be that big a deal. If anything Aquavelajad's opponents should be critizing HIM for "funding the enemy's cause". LOL

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While the F-14 was just decommissioned, the radar system is still impressive and frankly in any scenario where we decide to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities I'd expect that the F-14 would be part of the defensive package.

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